Monday, November 3, 2014

NBA 2K15 Roster Analysis 11/2/14

2K released another ratings update here.I just want to say right I'm a little on the fence about the nature of these daily updates. It's a really cool and interesting feature that 2K has brought to the games, but I'd be very cautious of knee-jerk reactions to big games (J.R. Smith's "Prime Time" badge after an 11-point game against the Cavaliers) that will inaccurately represent how a player will perform over the course of an 82-game season.NEW PLAYERSWill Cherry (67/PG - Cavaliers)It's not mentioned in 2K's report, but Cherry's addition meant that A.J. Price (66/PG) was waived.

Wroten's assist rate (currently 6th in the league) is through the roof right now, though this is partially due to the absence of Michael Carter-Williams (who pushes Wroten to SG when they share the court). Still, it's nice to see that the Sixers aren't dead in the water without MCW.

"Pre-D'Antoni" Pau Gasol has been sighted in Chicago. It's still early, but if Rose and Gasol continue their production/health it will spell championship (or at least an NBA Finals berth vs the Spurs).

Thompson's ORB rate is ridiculous right now (though his DRB rate, not so much). He has 14 Offensive Rebounds to 1 Defensive Rebound which is an unheard of ratio. Obviously that'll sort itself out over 82 games. What I'd really like to see is Thompson keep up his block rate, as it dropped in each of his first 3 seasons.

These Cavaliers have the makings of disaster written all over them (LeBron joining a weak defensive core with poor offensive efficiency), which usually means the role players can be expected to take a hit. Marion slipped a bit last season, and he's 36 years old in the first bench role of his career. This surely won't be the last time his ratings drop this year.

The Lateral Quickness boost brings Jordan equal to his regular Quickness rating. LQ is effectively "defensive quickness" so he clearly shouldn't be rated poorly here. I'd argue that both ratings should be higher than 56 but that would require convincing 2K that their Speed/Quickness scales for PF/C are broken.

CB4 has returned! Bosh sacrificed his individual numbers during Miami's Big Three era but he always had big games anytime LeBron and Wade were out of the lineup. Now he's re-establishing himself as a premier offensive threat, and his play earned him Eastern Conference player of the week.

Lance's play last season lead to him getting overrated in a number of circles, including 2K Sports. I like all-around players who are triple-double threats, but Lance is too erratic offensively and not good enough of a shooter to effectively play off Kemba Walker and Al Jefferson. He's averaging 8-10-7 which looks great in fantasy leagues but isn't going to translate to wins if he can't replicate last seasons 49 FG%.

For the first time ever, Gay is actually playing like the All-Star max player he's been trying to be. Through two days of rating edits, Gay is the only player to see an update to his non-3pt shooting ratings (Standing Layup and Driving Layup).

Don't let the three-year gap fool you. Jerome Jordan can play. At 28-years old, he's not going to get much better (the Potential adjustment was surely just correcting a typo), but he's as solid a 3rd-string as they come.

I guarantee you this play is where those Speed/Quickness rating boosts came from. PF/C are just as fast as guards, this is not the 1980s/90s where half the bigs were lumbering stiffs.Speed AveragePG: 91SG: 82 (-9)SF: 75 (-7)PF: 59 (-16)C: 53 (-6)There is simply not a 16 point speed gap between SFs and PFs in today's NBA, and hopefully players like Davis will highlight that.Tangent aside, give this man a higher Overall rating than Tim Duncan, please and thank you.

The Suns placed a lot of faith in Alex Len not being a bust after a poor rookie year. So far, he is rewarding them.LaMarcus Aldridge (Trail Blazers)88 Overall (NC)84 Shot IQ (+4)81 Defensive Rebound (-8)90 Box Out (-4)

Aldridge is playing well offensively though he hasn't rebounded all that well as of yet. Truth be told he's never been a great rebounder and his Box Out rating was probably overrated entering the year (and may still be).